An extensive set of conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD)/lowered acoustic Doppler current profiler (LADCP) data obtained within the northwestern Weddell Sea in August 1997 characterizes the dense water outflow from the Weddell Sea and overflow into the Scotia Sea. Along the outer rim of the Weddell Gyre, there is a stream of relatively low salinity, high oxygen Weddell Sea Deep Water (defined as water between 0 degrees and -0.7 degreesC), constituting a more ventilated form of this water mass than that found farther within the gyre. Its enhanced ventilation is due to injection of relatively low salinity shelf water found near the northern extreme of Antarctic Peninsula's Weddell Sea shelf, shelf water too buoyant to descend to the deep-sea floor. The more ventilated form of Weddell Sea Deep Water flows northward along the eastern side of the South Orkney Plateau, passing into the Scotia Sea rather than continuing along an eastward path in the northern Weddell Sea. Weddell Sea Bottom Water also exhibits two forms: a low-salinity, better oxygenated component confined to the outer rim of the Weddell Gyre, and a more saline, less oxygenated component observed farther into the gyre. The more saline Weddell Sea Bottom Water is derived from the southwestern Weddell Sea, where high-salinity shelf water is abundant. The less saline Weddell Sea Bottom Water, like the more ventilated Weddell Sea Deep Water, is derived from lower-salinity shelf water at a point farther north along the Antarctic Peninsula. Transports of Weddell Sea Deep and Bottom Water masses crossing 44 degreesW estimated from one LADCP survey are 25 x 10(6) and 5 x 10(6) m(3) s(-1), respectively. The low-salinity, better ventilated forms of Weddell Sea Deep and Bottom Water flowing along the outer rim of the Weddell Gyre have the position and depth range that would lead to overflow of the topographic confines of the Weddell Basin, whereas the more saline forms may be forced to recirculate within the Weddell Gyre.

The abyssal ocean is filled with cold, dense waters that sink along the Antarctic continental slope and overflow sills that lie south of the Nordic Seas. Recent integrations of chlorofluorocarbon-11 (CFC) measurements are similar in Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) and in lower North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW), but Antarctic inputs are approximate to 2 degreesC colder than their northern counterparts. This indicates comparable ventilation rates from both polar regions, and accounts for the Southern Ocean dominance over abyssal cooling. The decadal CFC-based estimates of recent ventilation are consistent with other hydrographic observations and with longer-term radiocarbon data, but not with hypotheses of a 20(th) -century slowdown in the rate of AABW formation. Significant variability is not precluded by the available ocean measurements, however, and interannual to decadal changes are increasingly evident at high latitudes.

Upwelling along the Java-Sumatra Indian Ocean coasts is a response to regional winds associated with the monsoon climate. The upwelling center with low sea surface temperature migrates westward and toward the equator during the southeast monsoon (June to October). The migration path depends on the seasonal evolution of alongshore winds and latitudinal changes in the Coriolis parameter. Upwelling is eventually terminated due to the reversal of winds associated with the onset of the northwest monsoon and impingement of Indian Ocean equatorial Kelvin waves. Significant interannual variability of the Java-Sumatra upwelling is linked to ENSO through the Indonesian throughflow (ITF) and by anomalous easterly wind. During El Niño episodes, the Java-Sumatra upwelling extends in both time (into November) and space (closer to the equator). During El Niño (La Niña), the ITF carries colder (warmer) water shallowing (deepening) thermocline depth and enhancing (reducing) upwelling strength.